VIENNA — Josh Patrick says the Life Changers Outreach program that helped him free himself from addiction began outside of a Walmart store in another state. He says he was in and out of prison and had a needle in his arm. It was outside that store that he saw people who were getting free from addiction and he wanted it for himself and he reached out for it. Now, seven years later he is no longer an addict and “it feels amazing.” Now, he is helping others find freedom from addiction. He is the Director of Outreach for the Vichy Life Changers Outreach program.

About three months ago, the Life Changers Outreach purchased the Pentecostal Church, Highway 68, in Vichy as a site to help men who are addicted to drugs or alcohol that have put them in bondage, or are suffering from life controlling issues that keep them down, depressed and even suicidal. Life Changers Outreach provides a 12-month, faith-based recovery ministry. The program offers a non-medical, non-psychiatric approach that focuses on achieving inner healing for deep rooted issues that are often at the center of addiction. Life Changers Outreach helps men and women overcome lives of bondages and struggles through Biblical studies, Christian counseling and worship. The men who participate in the program are ages 18 and above. They live at the program site and are fed, clothed, housed and all other needs taken care of while participating in the program that ends with a graduation and a new life free of addiction. Patrick said the program is completely funded by donations. They ask for corporate, church, and community donations and on Fridays and Saturdays they go out and set up a table outside of stores and ask for donations. While they are fundraising, they are visible to people who may be seeking the type of help they offer with their ministry of life recovery after addiction. They talk about the program and Patrick said people are generous. It’s a worldwide organization with 14 program sites throughout the United States and other countries. He said the different program sites help each other and the costs are leveled out among them. It takes a lot of money to operate the program and some of the sites have begun small businesses that help pay for it such as a T-shirt business in Tennessee and  coffee houses in West Virginia.

Addicted people in this area

A Life Changers Outreach program was started in this area because the organization heard there was a drug addiction problem in Phelps and Maries Counties. Patrick said when they found the church in Vichy, they worked with the church congregation and were able to buy it. A new church in Rolla has been built by the pentecostals, the Tabernacle of Praise, and it all just fell into place. Patrick said it was a godsend. The Vichy church was renovated to meet the program’s needs with half of it remaining a church, the Kingdom Life Revival Center, and the other half is where the men are housed. There’s a staff house too, where two staff members live, and another staff member lives with the men in the church. They are a strict, protected community under camera surveillance. The men obviously are there of their free will but are not allowed to leave for obvious reasons, but they can’t be restrained from doing so. Patrick said if they leave, the program staff contacts authorities and their family. If they ask to leave, the staff takes them away from the program site and drops them off elsewhere.

Currently there are 19 men seeking recovery at the Vichy site and their ages range from 19 to 62. Of these seven are from Maries or Phelps Counties, and six are from the surrounding area. The remainder are from elsewhere in Missouri and other states. Patrick said sometimes local participants are sent to another program facility because it helps them stay with the recovery program; its too easy to go back to their old, addicted life. 

A program of successful outcomes

The main goal of the ministry is to help people with issues get their lives together. “We want to be a blessing to the community and be active and give back to the community,” he said. They’ve seen a lot of success. People graduate from the program and stay on and work with the ministry to help others. Patrick said there is a high success rate for those who stick with the program all the way through for 12 months and they graduate. They see the success in many ways such as families being made whole by getting back together, people getting off and staying off drugs, getting off probation, and getting jobs. “Being straight makes many more things possible,” Patrick said. 

The program and its staff strives to help as many people as possible. They can handle about 35 to 40 men at the Vichy facility. Those who want to be in the program must follow the rules. It is a nicotine free program and men who want to participate must quit smoking if they do so now. They are given nicotine tests along with the routine drug testing that is done. Also, there can be no contact with girlfriends. They do allow contact with immediate families including wives, but say no to girlfriends. Patrick said many times the addict who is living a drug lifestyle has a girlfriend who is living the same way. They screen the men closely and don’t accept men who have committed sex crimes or violent crimes. They aren’t qualified to handle those types of offenders and they want to keep everyone safe.

Set free by the power of God

The program is structured. A typical day at the Life Changers Outreach is getting up early and getting ready for the day. They go straight into a devotional morning service with songs, scripture and the proverb of the day. This devotional (also called devo) lasts about 30 minutes. “We start the day with the Lord,” Patrick said, adding this is a good way for anyone to begin every day. Then they do assigned chores and are ready for breakfast. There is a medicine call at that time. Patrick said no psych drugs or mood altering drugs are allowed. The program is not a detox facility although they do have some experience dealing with it.

All of the programs are faith-based and are focused on recovery. Patrick said the recovery happens through a relationship with Jesus. They don’t shove religion down their throat but all of the staffers were “set free by the power of God.” The people who staff the programs give their personal testimonies about being on drugs, in prison and the experiences that accompany heavy addiction. “Our stories are shared and they see how we got free of addiction,” Patrick said. 

They encourage and discourage the men at the same time. They want people in the program who are ready to change but they make the rules very clear so that the men know what to expect. They are upfront about the process and that it is about Jesus Christ. The classes follow the Teen Challenge model and is the program that Executive Director Mark Gallo worked with for 10 years before starting Life Changers Outreach. 

One of the courses teaches obedience to man. This means participants must learn to accept authority and follow the laws of the land. Many of the men have bad attitudes about law enforcement, the court system and people in positions of authority. They are taught to obey laws and to honor God in doing so. Another course is obedience to God. There are anger issues and the men are taught Biblical ways to deal with anger. Patrick said men come out of the jailhouse or an addictive lifestyle and they sometimes want to fight people over a personal rule they have set for themselves. The course instructs them to give up those kinds of rights and let God have vengeance, not them. They are asked to forgive others as the Lord does and to not retaliate when someone does something wrong to them.

Program participants do personal studies on such topics as salvation, forgiveness, the Holy Ghost, soul ties and lust, spiritual identity, warfare and intercession, and leadership. Patrick said they have found that addiction is not the root problem, and that there is something else that led to the addiction. It may have been bad parenting and other authorities that caused rebellion. Or it may have been hanging out with the wrong crowd and falling into addiction because that was what those people were doing. 

The program teaches forgiveness because people tend to hold on to the hurts and don’t let them go, becoming so focused on it that they become like them and can’t forgive. Sex and lust is addressed because sleeping around is not living in a Biblical way. The Holy Ghost is power within a person. Warfare and intercession class is learning to think twice before turning toward getting high and thinking about it before they act. With spiritual identity they are asked to live with Christ. They did do drugs but Christ paid the price for their sins including drug use; they don’t have to be identified as an addict any more. They men are encouraged to be  leaders in their church and in their jobs. They are taught to hold a spirit of excellence for God’s glory and to teach others to do the same. Patrick said before the program, many of the men didn’t carry jobs and they drug others down with them. 

Learning skills 

for life

The men in the program are helped in many ways including learning life skills and job skills. They get a good home plan before they leave. They are encouraged to keep a relationship with Jesus and help setting them up with a good church that understands addiction. Some of the men graduate and then stay on to help with the ministry. There are still rules but they are not as bound by them once they graduate and can go here and there. In the program, at about seven months into it, the men get paid some money and also some is saved for them so they will have something to start with when they graduate. For those who stay on to help with the ministry, they can earn college credit in religious studies from Oral Roberts University.

They also have work details where they go out into the community and help with whatever the community needs. There are businesses/manufacturers who will give them jobs after graduation. 

Public invited to attend church

On Sundays, they have church in the morning and the rest of the day free. Patrick said there are other times throughout the week when they men have free time. In the summer they do more fun activities such as taking them swimming. 

The public is invited to attend the church services, which are held on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. and chapel is held at 4 p.m. on Tuesdays. Patrick said they definitely want the community to come to the facility and be involved as they want to be a blessing to everyone. 

The community can help this important ministry also by its generosity. Donations of clothes, food, hygiene products, cleaning supplies, and money always are accepted. The program is a 501C3 non-profit corporation and all donations are tax deductible. 

Persons interested in being a part of the recovery program or if you would like to make a donation you can contact Brother Josh at 573-405-0176.